Chapter 23

Qi Wu and Tong Luo immediately looked up in Tong Fei’s direction after hearing what Jiang Xuxu said.

There were only three minutes left in the ten minutes Song Qi had given them to prepare and strategize. However, it was obvious from the way Tong Fei’s icy face was locked in a haughty expression that she did not get along with Qiu Yan.

As for Qiu Yan, she was initially able to get along with Tong Fei. However, after seeing Tong Fei act like a spoiled brat and was even arrogant enough to claim she did not care about points at all, Qiu Yan could not be bothered catering to Tong Fei’s whims anymore.

Even if Tong Fei did not care, Qiu Yan did.

Although she had signed on with a talent agency, she had to beg and plead just to get this chance to participate in the show. There was no way she would get any preferential treatment on the show.

As Qiu Yan watched Tong Fei throw a tantrum, she could not help but sarcastically suggest, “Since you find all of this beneath you, why don’t you just head home and continue on as a rich family’s daughter? Why bother coming here to suffer?”

Tong Fei sneered. “Don’t assume I don’t know the only reason you’re working so hard is just for those points. Make an enemy out of me and I’ll make sure that you won’t get a single point!”

“You…!”

Qiu Yan’s face twisted in anger.

Standing not that far away was Qi Wu who leisurely applauded when she saw what was going on.

“It seems they are getting along,” she commented.

Tong Luo’s lips twitched when she heard that. With a complicated look in her eyes, she looked away from the other duo. “You think that’s getting along well?”

Qi Wu tilted her head. “They are just having a friendly conversation, right?”

Despite the pure look in her clear eyes, every word she spoke had everyone torn between crying and laughing.

“Your tongue is still the sharpest around, sweetie!”

Jiang Xuxu had already gotten used to this shocking side of Qi Wu.

While a harmless little lamb would be very cute, would life not be more exciting with the presence of Qi Wu, a black sheep disguised as a white sheep?

Qi Wu looked away and noticed the woman silently standing behind Jiang Xuxu.

She was wearing a black leather jacket and a white spaghetti-strap top. A thing chain hanging from the waistband of her high-waisted shorts connected to the leg strap around her thigh, accentuating her long legs.

She was a very tall woman who was almost six feet tall. Standing next to her, Jiang Xuxu looked very short despite her height of 5’4″.

Reminded by Qi Wu’s stare, Jiang Xuxu finally recalled the reason she approached them to begin with.

“Oh, right. I want to introduce you two to my partner.”

She turned to the side so that the woman standing behind her could be seen. “This is Ke Lu, my roommate and partner. She used to be a singer for a bar.”

Ke Lu looked up upon hearing her name. “Hello.”

With a few silver strands hiding among her neat and short hair and the handsome yet cold and aloof look in her eyes, she looked just like the typical big sister character from shows.

“Hello.”

Tong Luo stiffly nodded in a shocked but pleased manner. She was going to introduce herself, but then Jiang Xuxu said with a wave of her hand, “It’s okay. I’ve already told her all about you guys.”

Then, Jiang Xuxu grabbed Ke Lu’s arm and jerked her chin at Qi Wu. “This is Qi Wu, the one I’ve been telling you about. Isn’t she just a beauty up close?”

“… I know of her.”

Ke Lu silently glanced at Qi Wu before looking away.

“Thanks,” Qi Wu said.

“Good luck, Xuxu.”

Before Jiang Xuxu pulled Ke Lu away, Qi Wu called out to them in her usual calm voice. There was currently only one minute left on the timer.

“Good luck to you too, sweetie!”

Jiang Xuxu immediately turned around and excitedly shouted back in encouragement.

When the ten minutes were up, the referee of the obstacle course came forward to sort the groups. Even if the 100 contestants were divided into teams of two, there would still be 50 teams competing. Naturally, they could not go through the obstacle course all at once.

Thus, the referee divided the contestants into five groups of ten teams each.

Qi Wu and Tong Luo happened to be in the first group.

“The first group… It will be good to end early.”

“Yes.”

The two of them quickly headed to the starting line.

Tong Luo had tied the rope around their feet with a special knot that made sure it would not be untied no matter how hard they jumped.

After all, according to the rules of the competition, if the rope fell off, they had to start all over again.

There were many obstacles scattered throughout their quarter-mile journey. It would be a major loss if they were failing because the rope kept falling off.

As the two of them waited at the starting line, the other contestants watching from behind started whispering to each other about them.

“That’s Tong Luo and… Qi Wu? They’re roommates!”

“It’s an alliance between the strong.”

“Tong Luo will definitely choose to be in the Actor category. As for Qi Wu, it’s hard to say.”

“She’s an amazing singer. It will be a shame if she does not get into the Musician category.”

As the spectators chattered, the referee blew his whistle, signaling the start of the race.

Many of the teams impatiently rushed ahead. While they were fast, they were not all that neat and steady.

However, they had probably practiced in advance for this, so they did not actually fall over.

In comparison, Qi Wu and Tong Luo were like old women competing against a group full of youngsters as they were the only team that kept marching forward at their own steady pace.

However, that played to their benefit at the first obstacle.

The first obstacle was the wooden log bridge Tong Luo spotted. The log itself wasn’t that tall and hard to get on, but the path ahead was very narrow. Accidentally stepping a foot off it meant the team had to restart the obstacle.

As the first few teams were eager to keep rushing forward, they did not hesitate at all when they arrived at the first obstacle.

However, they were now on a round wooden log and not on flat ground. Therefore, some teams soon became a heap of tangled limbs on the floor from losing their balance.

“Ah!”

One of the teams cried out before the two of them twisted and tumbled off the wooden log together.

Fortunately, the ground below was soft grass.

When Tong Luo saw this, she faltered.

She looked at Qi Wu. As their legs were tied together, their bodies were pressed very close together at that moment. They were so close that Tong Luo’s nose was filled with Qi Wu’s reassuring scent.

“Let’s just follow the pace we set before.”

“All right.”

Qi Wu agreed.

Thus, while the other teams were still struggling to clear the obstacle, Qi Wu and Tong Luo walked past them calmly as if they were walking on flat ground instead of on a log.

Soon, the other teams realized that while Qi Wu and Tong Luo weren’t the fastest team, they were the most balanced and steady as they continued to march forward.

Some teams might get stuck at an obstacle and have to retry it a few more times, but Qi Wu and Tong Luo never stopped. Eventually, they were ahead of the group.

“Only a few more feet left.”

Tong Luo could not help but smile.

Both of them had good stamina, and they did not make any mistakes along the way. Hence, the quarter-mile run felt exceptionally easy.

They kept going until they became the first team to reach the finish line. Still, Tong Luo did not feel any exhaustion in her limbs. Instead, she felt very much at ease.

She liked the feeling of tackling challenges with Qi Wu by her side.

Qi Wu took off the rope, easily undoing the special knot that Tong Luo had used in just a few seconds.

She handed the rope back to Tong Luo. “It’s over. We’re in first place.”

“Yes! We are number one!”

Tong Luo emphatically agreed. However, she soon froze.

That was because something like this could only happen today.

After all, they would be each other’s opponents in the future.